Tourists view a model of the Three Gorges Dam at Sandouping. The world's largest electricity-generating plant, producing 18-23,000 Kilowatts of energy
Tourists view a model of the Three Gorges Dam at Sandouping. The world's largest electricity-generating plant, producing 18-23,000 Kilowatts of energy, the dam has also been the most contentious. Spanning the length of the once picturesque but tumultuous Yangtze River after it has passed through the Three Gorges, the dam was built to serve three purposes: electricity, increase the river's navigation capacity and reduce the potential for floods, which have claimed 350,000 lives in the last 200 years alone. But it also flooded a reported 8,000 archaeological and cultural sites, displacing million people (official figures - lobby groups place figures up to 50% more than this), and causing significant ecological changes, including an increased risk of landslides, sediment buildup and erosion. Riddled with corruption, a week after the dam started filling, in 2002, cracks appeared on the dam wall. The Chinese government is hoping that this controversy – and sheer size of the project – will now become a tourist attraction. Work has begun on tourist development overlooking the dam at Sandouping with a series of high-end resorts and more than 3,000 guest rooms.
Size: 5380px × 3600px
Photo credit: © Leisa Tyler / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 3, dam, dams, electricity-, foreigners, generating, gorges, holiday, holidaymaker, holidaymakers, holidays, indoor, indoors, infrastructure, interior, interiors, maker, makers, model, models, people, plant, project, sandouping, tourism, tourist, tourists, vacation, vacationer, vacationers, vacations
